DOCSLIB.ORG

Mindful Virtue, Mindful Reverence Ursula Goodenough Washington University in St Louis, [email protected]

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mindful Virtue, Mindful Reverence Ursula Goodenough Washington University in St Louis, Goodenough@Wustl.Edu Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations Biology 12-2001 Mindful Virtue, Mindful Reverence Ursula Goodenough Washington University in St Louis, [email protected] Paul Woodruff Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bio_facpubs Part of the Biology Commons, and the Ethics in Religion Commons Recommended Citation Goodenough, Ursula and Woodruff, Paul, "Mindful Virtue, Mindful Reverence" (2001). Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations. 84. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bio_facpubs/84 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Biology at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MINDFUL VIRTUE, MINDFUL REVERENCE by Ursula Goodenough and Paul Woodruff Draft of article published in Zygon 36: 585-595 (2001) Abstract. How does one talk about moral thought and moral action as a religious naturalist? We explore this question by considering two human capacities: the capacity for mindfulness, and the capacity for virtue. We suggest that mindfulness is deeply enhanced by an understanding of the scientific worldview, and that the four cardinal virtues – courage, fairmindedness, humaneness, and reverence – are rendered coherent by mindful reflection. We focus on the concept of mindful reverence, and propose that the mindful reverence elicited by the evolutionary narrative is at the heart of religious naturalism. Religious education, we suggest, entails the cultivation of mindful virtue, in ourselves and in our children. Keywords. mindfulness, morality, religious naturalism, reverence, virtue ethics INTRODUCTION This essay represents an intellectual and spiritual collaboration. Goodenough is a cell biologist whose recent book, The Sacred Depths of Nature (1998), explores the religious potential of our scientific understandings of nature and 1 advocates an orientation called religious naturalism. Woodruff is a moral philosopher whose recent book, Reverence (2001), explores the concept of reverence in the context of virtue ethics. Since reverence is often invoked in The Sacred Depths of Nature, it became apparent that we were pursuing a similar quest, and further conversation has led to the crafting of this shared perspective. The core question we will consider is: How does one talk about moral thought and moral action as a religious naturalist? Scientists are expected to approach this question in a scientific fashion, and many have done so. From such research have emerged such useful concepts as kin altruism and reciprocal altruism, concepts that use genetic and game-theory algorithms to describe how we negotiate the allocation of favors and retribution (Ridley, 1998). But most people, including most of the game-theory scientists themselves, understand that these economic algorithms are not what we seek as religious persons. Rather, we seek ideals and values. We want to understand how best to be good. We want to know what to say to our children. In this essay we first consider the human capacity known as mindfulness, and suggest that the development of mindfulness is a precondition for morality. We next consider the human capacity known as virtue, and suggest that a morality based on the development of mindful virtue is an approach that seems particularly compatible with religious naturalism. We conclude with a focus on 2 the virtue reverence, and propose that the pursuit of mindful reverence is fundamental to the moral life of the religious naturalist. MINDFULNESS IN THE RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS To get into thinking about mindfulness, we can start with Aristotle. Aristotle begins his treatise on Metaphysics with a strong assertion: “All human beings by nature reach out for knowledge” (Metaphysics 1.1, 980a21). Most of us, if asked to give a description of human nature, would probably include something along these lines in our response, and indeed, it is embedded in the biological name we have given to ourselves, where the sapiens in Homo sapiens means “having wisdom.” Wisdom and knowledge are entailed by mindfulness, but we suggest that mindfulness demands more of us. Mindfulness is knowledge or wisdom that pulls the whole mind-and-heart of the knower towards a connection with the way things are in all their exciting particularity. You cannot be mindful and know things in a purely academic way; as you become mindful of something, your feelings and your behavior towards it will not be untouched. Mindfulness is both a state of mind and a practice. The practice, popularized in the west by Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, is summarized by his famous epigram “Washing the Dishes to Wash the Dishes” (Nhat Hahn, 1975, p.3). That is, one trains oneself to keep one’s consciousness alive to the present reality, to focus attention on the here-and-now, on the miracle 3 of the soap and the water and the dishes and the process, rather than rushing through the chore mindlessly to get to whatever is next. In his sutra on Mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutta, reprinted in Nhat Hahn, 1975, p. 111), the Buddha refers to mindfulness as one of the enlightenment factors, along with such others as joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity. The mindful person, Buddhism tells us, assumes the attitude of pure observation, freed from all false views, and apprehends a reality that is not only objective but also becomes subjective. The mindful person really really sees. Three features of mindfulness are encountered not only in Buddhist thought but also in the writings of the ancient Greeks and the Chinese Confucians. First, mindfulness is described as a path, a work in progress, rather than as an endpoint or achievement. This is because the mindful person is prepared to perceive each particular situation in its uniqueness and respond to it appropriately, while knowledge (as the ancient Greeks understood it) aims at grasping universal principles and applying them uniformly in all cases. Aristotle's concept of practical wisdom (phronesis) is an ethical sort of mindfulness. It is a kind of wisdom because it is a capacity to get a great many things right, and it is practical because it is the link between our minds and our moral character. He tells us that mindfulness, so understood, entails a long process of living and choosing, a process that develops a person’s resourcefulness and 4 responsiveness (Nussbaum, 1986, p. 305). And Confucius, in the course of describing the various life stages leading to sagehood, offers a wonderful epigram, variously phrased as "At sixty, my ear was attuned," or, "At sixty, my ears became subtly perceptive" (Analects 2.4,Translations by Simon Leys 1997, Chichung Huang 1997). Second, mindfulness is described as “freed from all false views” (Nhat Hanh, 1975, p.56). Pure observation, the perception of reality, cannot occur through the lens of one’s own needs, biases, and prejudice. Rigidity, dogmatism, and fundamentalism are fatal to mindfulness from one direction, while inattention, fickleness, and carelessness can destroy it from another. Aristotle tells us that mindfulness is constantly evolving, ready for surprise (Nussbaum, 1986, p. 305). And third, mindfulness entails an immersion, a personal appropriation of reality. Aristotle describes it as a complex response of the entire personality; Thich Nhat Hahn writes that when we practice mindfulness of objects outside ourselves, the knowledge of these objects becomes mind (Nhat Hahn, 1975, p. 46); and the Confucians tell us that we must attain a deep personal understanding of our own being and the being of others if we are to respond faithfully to their reality. What is sought, they explain, is “self-transformation through a personal grasp” (Kalton, 1988). 5 The fascinating concordance between Greek, Indian, and Chinese perceptions of mindfulness, as sketched in the above passages, is especially remarkable given that they were originally articulated thousands of years ago and independently of one another. To us this indicates that we are considering a facet of human aspiration that is of fundamental importance. The quest for mindfulness, we would say, is a core human hope, a core human ideal. MINDFULNESS IN THE CONTEXT OF RELIGIOUS NATURALISM In the broadest and deepest sense, the “naturalism” part of religious naturalism is all about mindfulness. Scientists, trained in a particular kind of “pure observation,” have provisioned us with stunning understandings of the natural world, and these understandings then provision the religious naturalist with countless substrates for mindful apprehension. So, for example, mindfulness of the body is no longer just about breathing and walking as in the original Buddhist practice; we are now able to contemplate as well the molecular and genetic underpinnings of the body and its evolution from simpler forms. When the Dalai Lama visited Washington University several years ago, he insisted on a visit to the neuroimaging laboratories where brains are being analyzed as they think and feel. There emerged a photograph of the Dalai Lama in his robes talking with the neuroscientists in their lab coats. An icon to mindfulness. 6 The religious naturalist is called to be mindful of the following understandings from biology: • Mindful of our place in the scheme of things • Mindful that life
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Metta Bhavanabhavana Loving-Kindnessloving-Kindness Meditationmeditation Ven
    MettaMetta BhavanaBhavana Loving-kindnessLoving-kindness MeditationMeditation Ven. Dhammarakkhita HAN DD ET U 'S B B O RY eOK LIBRA E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.buddhanet.net Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc. Metta Bhavana Loving-kindness Meditation Venerable Dhammarakkhita Published for free dist ribution 974–344–130–1 First edition , copies August Enquiries: Ms. Savanraya Vipatayotin (Nay) Dhammodaya Meditation Centre / Mu Tambol Th anon — Khat Ampur Muang, Nakhon Pathom , Th ailand Tel. (-) . Fax. (-) Website: http//www.rissir.com/dhammodaya E-mail: [email protected] Cover design by Dhammarakkhita with technical assistance from Khun Sangthong Srikaewpraphan Metta Bhavana Loving-kindness Meditation Venerable Dhammarakkhita Venerable Dhammarakkhita is an Australian Buddhist Monk of the Myanmar Th eravada tradition. He has been a monk for about eight years. After extensive and intensive practice in vipassana-mindfulness/insight meditation in Australia and Myanmar, his teacher Venerable Chanmyay Sayadaw instructed him to teach vipassana in Myanmar, Singapore and East and West Malaysia. Venerable Dhammarakkhita spent three years successfully establishing a monastery in South Africa. Th ese days he teaches by invitation in Myanmar, Japan and Th ailand and gives talks wherever he goes. “If you truly love yourself, you’ll easily love another; If you truly love yourself, you’ll never harm another.” Introduct ion Th is short explanation on how to practise Metta Bhavana or Loving -kindness Meditation was given as a three-day week- end retreat at Dhammodaya Meditation Centre in Nakhon Pathom in Th ailand. Mae-chee Boonyanandi, a Th ai Buddhist nun, has invited Venerable Chanmyay Saya daw of Myanmar to be the patron of the Centre.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Stephen Crane and Tim O
    Life at War and the Heroic Illusions Created to Cope with War: A Study of Stephen Crane and Tim O‘Brien By Gaye L. Allen A thesis submitted to the Graduate School-Camden Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Graduate Program in Liberal Studies written under the direction of Professor Richard M. Drucker and approved by ________________________ Richard Drucker Camden, New Jersey May 2011 i Abstract of the Thesis Life at War and the Illusions Created to Cope with War: A Study of Stephen Crane and Tim O‘Brien By Gaye L. Allen Thesis Director: Professor Richard M. Drucker This thesis will examine the fictional war novels, The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane and Going after Cacciato by Tim O‘Brien. It will examine the heroic illusions created by soldiers on the frontline as psychological coping mechanisms as a means to escape the realities of war. It will also examine how Stephen Crane and Tim O‘Brien create protagonists and characters that struggle to understand the conflicts within themselves as consequences of their developing point of view toward themselves, their war comrades, and their society‘s values and how each of these writers through observing battlefield experience comes to question the meaning of war and its effects. Stephen Crane and Tim O‘Brien investigate the moral and cultural values of their respective societies. Crane portrays the Victorian era O‘Brien examines1960‘s America. Each novel asks us to view their war with both irony and sympathy.
    [Show full text]
  • About Emotions There Are 8 Primary Emotions. You Are Born with These
    About Emotions There are 8 primary emotions. You are born with these emotions wired into your brain. That wiring causes your body to react in certain ways and for you to have certain urges when the emotion arises. Here is a list of primary emotions: Eight Primary Emotions Anger: fury, outrage, wrath, irritability, hostility, resentment and violence. Sadness: grief, sorrow, gloom, melancholy, despair, loneliness, and depression. Fear: anxiety, apprehension, nervousness, dread, fright, and panic. Joy: enjoyment, happiness, relief, bliss, delight, pride, thrill, and ecstasy. Interest: acceptance, friendliness, trust, kindness, affection, love, and devotion. Surprise: shock, astonishment, amazement, astound, and wonder. Disgust: contempt, disdain, scorn, aversion, distaste, and revulsion. Shame: guilt, embarrassment, chagrin, remorse, regret, and contrition. All other emotions are made up by combining these basic 8 emotions. Sometimes we have secondary emotions, an emotional reaction to an emotion. We learn these. Some examples of these are: o Feeling shame when you get angry. o Feeling angry when you have a shame response (e.g., hurt feelings). o Feeling fear when you get angry (maybe you’ve been punished for anger). There are many more. These are NOT wired into our bodies and brains, but are learned from our families, our culture, and others. When you have a secondary emotion, the key is to figure out what the primary emotion, the feeling at the root of your reaction is, so that you can take an action that is most helpful. .
    [Show full text]
  • 25 Positive Emotions in Human-Product Interactions
    ORIGINAL ARTICLE Faces of Product Pleasure: 25 Positive Emotions in Human-Product Interactions Pieter M. A. Desmet Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft, The Netherlands The study of user emotions is hindered by the absence of a clear overview of what positive emotions can be experienced in human- product interactions. Existing typologies are either too concise or too comprehensive, including less than five or hundreds of positive emotions, respectively. To overcome this hindrance, this paper introduces a basic set of 25 positive emotion types that represent the general repertoire of positive human emotions. The set was developed with a componential analysis of 150 positive emotion words. A questionnaire study that explored how and when each of the 25 emotions are experienced in human-product interactions resulted in a collection of 729 example cases. On the basis of these cases, six main sources of positive emotions in human-product interactions are proposed. By providing a fine-grained yet concise vocabulary of positive emotions that people can experience in response to product design, the typology aims to facilitate both research and design activities. The implications and limitations of the set are discussed, and some future research steps are proposed. Keywords – Emotion-Driven Design, Positive Emotions, Questionnaire Research. Relevance to Design Practice – Positive emotions differ both in how they are evoked and in how they influence usage behaviour. Designers can use the set of 25 positive emotions to develop their emotional granularity and to specify design intentions in terms of emotional impact. Citation: Desmet, P. M. A. (2012). Faces of product pleasure: 25 positive emotions in human-product interactions.
    [Show full text]
  • Happy to Help? a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Performing Acts of Kindness on the Well-Being of the Acto
    Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor Oliver Scott Curry ([email protected]) Lee Rowland Sally Zlotowitz John McAlaney Harvey Whitehouse September 2016 Abstract Does being kind make you happy? Recent advances in the behavioural sciences have provided a number of explanations of human social, cooperative and altruistic behaviour. These theories predict that people will be ‘happy to help’ family, friends, community members, spouses, and even strangers under some conditions. As a preliminary test of whether and to what extent these predictions are supported by the existing literature, here we conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the experimental evidence that kindness interventions (for example, performing ’random acts of kindness’) boost subjective well-being. Our initial search of the literature identifies 376 articles; of which 19 (21 studies) meet the inclusion criteria (total N=2,685). We find that the overall effect of kindness on well-being is small-to-medium (d = 0.38). There is also some indication of publication bias – lower quality studies tended to find larger effects – suggesting that the true effect size may be smaller still (0.31 ≤ d ≤ 0.34). We also find that the design and methodological limitations of existing studies preclude the testing of specific theories of kindness. We recommend that future research: distinguish between the effects of kindness to specific categories of people (for example, family, friends, strangers); take kindness- specific individual differences into account; and consider a wider range of distal outcome measures.
    [Show full text]
  • Not-So Random Acts of Kindness: a Guide to Intentional Kindness in the Classroom
    Volume 7, Number 2, November 2015 pp 49-62 www.um.edu.mt/cres/ijee Not-so Random Acts of Kindness: A Guide to Intentional Kindness in the Classroom 1 John-Tyler Binfet Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Canada Much has been written about random acts of kindness – acts performed spontaneously and often to strangers. The topic of kindness and the benefits arising from performing kind acts holds both empirical and applied interest in the fields of education and psychology. Encouraging students to reflect upon and perform intentional acts of kindness develops perspective-taking, increased social membership, and a structured way of encouraging kindness within the school context. This paper provides an overview of kindness research and argues for the need to promote intentional acts of kindness by providing a framework for teachers to support students in the performance of intentional kindness. Keywords: kindness, kindness definitions, teaching, social and emotional learning, positive education First submission 10 th August 2015; Accepted for publication 15 th October 2015. Introduction “The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action.” (Dewey, 1916, p. 351). Even more than honesty, gratitude, or hope, the trait of kindness is identified as one of the top-ranking character strengths valued in Western society (Karris & Craighead, 2012; Park, Peterson, & Seligman, 2004). When parents are asked what they wish for their children, ‘being good’ or ‘being kind’ is consistently indicated to be a top trait (Diener & Lucas, 2004; Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich, & Linkins, 2009; Wang & Tamis-LeMonda, 2003). Although kindness and other elements of a child’s behavior was often seen as something solely within the purview of parents and the moral authority of religion, increasingly, the mandate of schools has broadened beyond a unique focus on the promotion of core academic abilities to 1 Corresponding author.
    [Show full text]
  • Mindfulness and Loving-Kindness
    MINDFULNESS AND LOVING-KINDNESS Sharon Salzberg Mindfulness, as the word is commonly used in contemporary meditation teaching, refers to both being aware of our present moment’s experience, and relating to that experience without grasping, aversion or delusion. All three habitual tendencies distort our perception of what is happening, and lead us to futile and misguided efforts to deny or control our experience. Loving-kindness is a quality of the heart that recognizes how connected we all are. Loving-kindness is essentially a form of inclusiveness of caring, rather than categorizing others in terms of those whom we care for and those who can be easily excluded, ignored or disdained. Any reduction in our tendency to fall into attachment, aversion or delusion helps refine and expand the force of loving-kindness. A deepening of insight will inevitably include seeing how all of our lives are inextricably interconnected. The diminishing of grasping, aversion and delusion and the increase in insight are both reasons mindfulness naturally leads us to greater loving-kindness. In contemporary meditation teaching, the word mindfulness is used in several different ways—as meaning the act of recollecting, as being present, and very commonly, as a kind of compound which in Pali, the language of the original Buddhist texts, would be sati-sampajan˜n˜a, or awareness and clear comprehension combined. One way of seeing this is to say that mindfulness is a relational process— mindfulness is not just knowing what is happening, such as ‘In this moment I am hearing a sound.’ Being mindful is knowing that we are hearing a sound in a certain way, that is, hearing it free of grasping, aversion and delusion.
    [Show full text]
  • Angry Rumination Mediates the Unique Associations Between Self-Compassion and Anger and Aggression
    Mindfulness DOI 10.1007/s12671-016-0629-2 ORIGINAL PAPER Angry Rumination Mediates the Unique Associations Between Self-Compassion and Anger and Aggression Amanda Fresnics1 & Ashley Borders1 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016 Abstract Mindfulness is known to decrease anger and ag- be useful for developing clinical interventions targeting anger gression. Self-compassion is a related and relatively new con- and aggressive behavior. struct that may predict other clinical outcomes more strongly than does mindfulness. Little research has focused on whether Keywords Self-compassion . Mindfulness . Angry self-compassion is related to anger and aggression, and no rumination . Anger . Aggression studies have explored mechanisms of these associations. The current survey study explores whether angry rumination me- diates the unique associations between self-compassion and Introduction anger and aggression, controlling for trait mindfulness. Two hundred and one undergraduates completed questionnaires Mindfulness has known benefits for individuals with anger and assessing self-compassion, mindfulness, angry rumination, aggression problems (Heppner et al. 2008). Self-compassion is and recent anger and aggression. Supporting our hypotheses, a related construct that has received recent empirical attention angry rumination mediated the associations between self- because of its potential to reduce suffering. This positive attri- compassion—particularly its over-identification subscale— bute consists of extending a loving, non-judgmental attitude
    [Show full text]
  • Our Intentions Core Values: COURAGE, REVERENCE And
    When We Meet Again April 2021 The Board and staff team are beginning to imagine the time when opening the building and grounds to on-site gatherings might be possible again. Beginning in April, we will hold several congregational gatherings, with Board members facilitating break-out groups, to gather questions and ideas from members and friends. We will also gather questions and ideas from key committees. Responses from these gatherings, and from the Protocols Advisory team, together with resources from the Mn. Dept. of Public Health, the UUA and other sources, will guide staff in their recommendations to the Board through the summer and beyond. ________________________________________________________________________________ Our Intentions to shape an evolving plan for gradual return to on-site activities as soon as possible, with input from the Board, lay leaders/committees and the congregation at large to ask the Protocols Advisory Group to guide each step of the plan to gather a technology team to enable possibility for each step of the plan to expect policy, guidelines and clear expectations to be owned and articulated by the Board, and to be implemented by staff Core Values: COURAGE, REVERENCE and COMPASSION We treasure embodied, in-person relationships and engagement. We are mindful not only of Covid’s physical dangers, but dangers of isolation to emotional and mental health. We endorse and will follow the best research and best practices of science. We will center the most vulnerable and those most at risk. We will care for our members of all ages, and for the wider community (the common good). We commit to justice and equity, mindful that access to adequate healthcare is uneven in our society: what feels “safe” to some may be dangerous to others.
    [Show full text]
  • Circle of Courage Images–Source: Used with Permission
    The Spirit of Generosity: Character is cultivated by concern for others so that the child can say, “I have a purpose for my life.” The Spirit of Independence: Free will is cultivated by responsibility so that the of Cou child can say, “I have the power to make decisions.” le ra irc ge C The Spirit of Belonging: TM The universal longing for human bonds is cultivated by relationships of trust so that the child can say, “I am loved.” The Spirit of Mastery: The inborn thirst for learning is cultivated; by learning to cope with the world, the child can say, “I can succeed.” Circle of Courage Images–Source: Used with permission. Artist: George Blue Bird. The Circle of Courage is a Trademark of Circle of Courage, Inc. For more information, see Web site: www.reclaiming.com or e mail: [email protected]. Principles of the Circle of Courage–Source: Used with permission. From Reclaiming Youth at Risk: Our Hope for the Future by Larry Brendtro, Martin Brokenleg, and Steve Van Bockern (pgs. 137-138). Copyright 1990 and 2002 by Solution Tree (formerly National Educational Service), 304 West Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47404, 800-733-6786, www.solution-tree.com. Circle of Courage Philosophy The Circle of Courage is a model of positive youth development first described in the bookReclaiming Youth at Risk, co-authored by Larry Brendtro, Martin Brokenleg, and Steve Van Bockern. The model integrates Native American philosophies of child-rearing, the heritage of early pioneers in education and youth work, and contemporary resilience research. The Circle of Courage is based in four universal growth needs of all children: belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity.
    [Show full text]
  • The Experience of Men After Miscarriage Stephanie Dianne Rose Purdue University
    Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Open Access Dissertations Theses and Dissertations January 2015 The Experience of Men After Miscarriage Stephanie Dianne Rose Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations Recommended Citation Rose, Stephanie Dianne, "The Experience of Men After Miscarriage" (2015). Open Access Dissertations. 1426. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/1426 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. THE EXPERIENCE OF MEN AFTER MISCARRIAGE A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University by Stephanie Dianne Rose In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2015 Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana ii To my curious, sweet, spunky, intelligent, and fun-loving daughter Amira, and to my unborn baby (lost to miscarriage February 2010), whom I never had the privilege of meeting. I am extremely happy and fulfilled being your mother. Thank you for your motivation and inspiration. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to everyone who contributed to my study. Specifically, I am indebted to my sisters Sara Okello and Stacia Firebaugh for their helpful revisions, and to my parents Scott and Susan Firebaugh for their emotional and financial support along the way. I am thankful to those who provided childcare during this project, including my family and friends. My wonderful family and friends have blessed me with much support and encouragement throughout this project. I am also very grateful to my advisor Dr. Heather Servaty-Seib for her tireless support and investment in this project.
    [Show full text]
  • Themes List (Quotations, Mottos, Proverbs and Old Sayings)
    Themes List (Quotations, Mottos, Proverbs and Old Sayings) Prejudice • Things are not always as they appear. • Things are usually not as bad as you think they will be. • Look for the golden lining. • Beauty is only skin deep. • Prejudice leads to: wrong conclusions, violence, false perceptions, a vicious cycle, oppression. o Don’t judge a book by its cover. o Mercy triumphs over judgment. • Beware of strangers. • People from other cultures are really very much like us. • Look before you leap. Belief • Believe in yourself. To succeed, we must first believe that we can. • Believe one who has proved it. Believe an expert. • The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen. • One needs something to believe in, something for which one can have whole-hearted enthusiasm. • As long as people believe in absurdities, they will continue to commit atrocities. • Moral skepticism can result in distance, coldness, and cruelty. Change • People are afraid of change but things always change. • Things are usually not as bad as you think they will be. • Knowledge can help us prepare for the future. • Forewarned is forearmed. • It is impossible to be certain about things. Good and Evil • Good triumphs over evil. • Evil is punished and good is rewarded. • Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. • Bullies can be overcome. • Good manners have positive results. • Greed leads to negative outcomes: suffering, disaster, catastrophe, evil, callousness, arrogance, megalomania. • It is possible to survive against all odds. • Jealousy leads to negative outcomes: guilt, resentment, loneliness, violence, madness. • Good and evil coexist.
    [Show full text]